The Bad Boy Returns
by Guarding My Castle
Summary: A person from Beckett's past shows up. Will the Bad Boy come between our two lovebirds? Rick is leaving town and Beckett is keeping company with her old love.
1. Chapter 1

**Thank you ABC, Marlow and Company for the great stories and people you created and still own. These belong to you.**

**OK brain. I am tired of these stories messing with my sleep.**

**So I write it here so it can mess up your sleep.**

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CHAPTER 1

Detective Beckett is awakened by her cell phone chime. She reaches over thru sleep deprived eyes to read the text message.

"DB 5th at Lex Javi"

Beckett drags herself out from under the warm blanket and puts her feet on the cold floor beneath her bed. This is one morning she whishes she had stayed over at Castle's loft. He has warm floors under his bed. But last night she was late finishing the case she was on and just too tired to have enjoyed what would have probably occurred had she been there with him. Too bad though. She really likes waking up next to him. It is much nicer that what her feet are feeling tight now.

She takes her phone and forwards Esposito's message to Castle and starts getting ready. Her phone chimes with a message from him that he will be there with rings on his fingers and bell on his toes and coffee in his hands. She smiles at his little boy humor.

It's funny how five years ago that she was such a driven person that even the thought of his humor irritated her and made her want him to just go away and leave her alone so she could do her job without all of his built in distractions. Now he brings light to her life. She smiles when he calls. She laughs at his silly stunts. And she really loves him thru and thru. She is a different person today because of Richard Castle.

When Beckett arrives at the crime scene, Kevin Ryan is talking to Dr. Parish

"Hey Lanie, what have you got?"

"White Female around 30 years old. She was strangled. It looks like a robbery gone wrong"

As Beckett starts to ask for more information she sees her man come around the corner with the promised coffee. "Good morning detectives and doctor"

Beckett reaches over and takes the cup from Castle. When she does, she lingers on his fingers just a brief moment "Hey Castle. Thank you"

"You are welcome, detective" he smiles at her with that longing to touch her in his eyes. This woman is driving him crazy just being near him. "What do we have here? "He says while looking down at the victim.

Lanie repeats her observations again while they walk away from the body so the coroner can load the victim into the truck for transport.

"Who found the body?" Beckett asks

Ryan looks at his notes "A Mr. Marcus Simmons. He lives in the building across the street and saw the body after he got out of his cab. He called 9-1-1"

Beckett has a funny look on her face. Her face turns a little red. Everyone notices then Lanie asks "Kate! Are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Yeah! I'm ok. Did you say Marcus Simmons?"

Ryan answers "Yeah. That's him over there talking to uniforms"

Beckett looks in the direction of the two patrol officers. They are talking to a tall dark haired man in his mid 30's. He is wearing a tuxedo He looks like he may have just come from some social event.

Beckett leaves the other three and walks briskly toward the officers. "Mark?"

The man in the tuxedo turns and looks toward Beckett with a puzzled look on his face "Beckett? Kate Beckett?" he says with joy in his voice

"Yeah! Hey Mark how are you" Beckett says with a laugh.

The man grabs Beckett and puts her into a bear hug. "Great to see you!" he steps back and gives Beckett the once over "You look fantastic! What has it been? Fifteen years?"

Kate responds "No! Closer to twenty! WOW! You look good too! When did you come back to the city?"

"Last year. I was offered partner with the firm of Jenkins, Wilson and Bronson downtown"

"That's a law firm. Are you a lawyer?"

"Yes, I went to Harvard after I got out of the service and became an attorney. I was down in Texas with a firm in the petroleum industry working on oil leases and such. I kind of got bored and decided to come back to the big apple and see what trouble I might stir up."

Well, so you found a body? I'm a homicide detective now and I am investigating the case on the woman you found."

"Kate, I thought you wanted to become a lawyer like your parents"

Beckett's face goes a little dark "After I lost my mother, I decided to become a cop"

"I'm sorry. I guess I didn't know. What happened to your mother?"

Beckett takes a deep breath. "She was murdered."

Having someone from her past who actually knew her mother and father caused some feelings to rush back into Kate. "So I left Stanford, came back here and joined the police force. Then I later made detective and came into homicide"

"Wow that is some story. Listen, Kate. Give me your number and let's get together over diner or drinks and catch up on old times. What do you say?"

Kate looks like she is in thought for a moment then she says "great! I'll get with you in the next few days"

"Good to see you Kate"

"Same here Mark" Beckett returns to the others

Castle is watching this conversation unfold with a little concern. It looks like Kate is a little too friendly with the witness Lanie and Ryan also see the familiarity between Beckett and this man.

Ryan asks first "Do you know the witness Beckett?"

"Yeah! We sort of grew up together. He lived in the next block over. We went to elementary school through most of high school. He, uh, left in out senior year. There was some…uh…problems..."

Beckett is having a problem explaining the connection between this man and her.

"What type of problems? Castle questions

"Oh, just he got into some trouble. Oh, nothing serious, Just petty theft. Racing. Stuff like that. He ran with a really tough crowd. But he was not a bad guy. He just had a rough childhood. It finally came down to jail or military service"

Lanie has figured out that this guy is the "BAD BOY" that Beckett told her about so many years before. Kate would not talk about him much just to say that this was a part of Beckett's early learning period. The part of her life that, at the time, was exciting because it was so wrong. A period that she was at odds with her mom and dad almost every moment of every day. This was her first love, or crush, or whatever it was. She was young and inexperienced. At the time Beckett could have gone either way. She could stay bad and probably would have ended up pregnant and alone or grow and become the woman the finally became.

Richard Castle is visibility concerned about what he has just witnessed. He has heard about this "BAD BOY" and knows that like Kira was for him at one time, there might be deep unresolved feelings inside Beckett for this guy.

Beckett returns her focus on the case "what else do we know about the victim?"

Ryan checks his notes,"Her purse is missing. If she was wearing any jewelry, it is missing so we assume it was stolen. Appears to be a robbery"

Lanie continues "After I get her to the morgue, I can give you a cause of death. Prelim is strangulation. But I will have more later."

"Great. Keep me informed" Beckett turns o Castle "So want a ride to the station?"

"Actually no! Remember that I am scheduled to fly to LA this morning for a series of signings then to Las Vegas, Denver, Dallas St Louis then back here. I'll be gone a week. That was why I wanted you to stay last night. I won't be seeing you for a week."

"Oh! Castle I forgot. I'm sorry. Tell you what. When you get back, I'll be waiting for you at your place. OK?"

Castle has a touch of fear in his face. Rick is going to be gone for a week. Kate's old flame has shown up here. He is no longer the "BAD BOY" he once was. In fact he is now a partner in a prestigious law firm. And he is planning to re connect with Kate.

What could possibly go wrong for while Castle is away?


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Beckett in Conflict

Beckett is sitting in front of her murder board looking blankly at the pictures and notes. She is unable to connect the dots. Is it because they cannot be connected. Something about them does not add up. Or is it because she has emotions running around her head that she cannot control and they are preventing her from making the connection?

"He" is here. The guy who caused her so much grief but so much joy so long ago. But it was a long time ago. A lot has happened since then. He is obviously in a different place than he was the last time she saw him. She is definitely in a better place since then. After the last time she saw Mark, she has been to hell and back.

It feels like a different person lived those memories. It was not her. It was not the Katherine Beckett that today is a homicide detective with the NYPD. Someone else rode the streets of New York with Mark. Someone else hung out with gangs. Someone else watched as wild kids fought for dominance in their neighborhoods. Someone else violated every trust that their parents placed in them.

Beckett's telephone ringing breaks her train of thought "Beckett. Thanks Lanie. I'll be right there"

Beckett turns to Ryan and Esposito and tells them that she is heading to the morgue to see Lanie about the victim. As she heads out the door, Esposito asks Ryan "Hey bro. Is it true that Beckett's old flame is here and is the one who discovered the body?"

"Yeah! She definitely knows this guy. I'm not sure about all the details but she did know him and they chatted like old friends."

"Since he is a witness, I am going to do a background check on him and see what I find"

Ryan responds "Were you aware that Castle flew out of town for a week long book tour and he did not look happy when he was leaving the crime scene this morning. You know like he was jealous of this guy and I really don't blame him for feeling that way. He and Beckett have come a long way and we don't need some old flame dropping in and trying to steak a claim on her."

In the mean time Esposito has been doing a search on this guy. "Hum, here we go. Well, his juvenile record is sealed. He evidently had a colorful youth. Nothing criminal since he was 17. He joined the Navy. I guess that counted in keeping him out of jail. He was honorably discharged 6 years later with the rank of Petty Officer First Class So he must have kept his nose clean during the service. He finished his high school GED then enrolled in college at Trinity Valley College down in Texas. Got his Associates then transferred to Harvard. Got his Doctor's inJ_urisprudence_ then passed the bar in Texas and took a job with Texas Star Petroleum as staff council."

"Sound like this guy is on the up and up" Ryan comments

"Yes, he has come a long way from the Bad Boy we heard about before."

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Over at the morgue Beckett is walking into Dr Parish's office "What do you have Lanie?"

"Well our victim was choked.

"I thought she was stabbed?"

"So did I. There was blood on her clothes, but it is not hers"

"Can you get anything on the killer from the body?"

"Whoever did it was wearing gloves so it is impossible to tell much about him. The marks left by the fingers are quite large so I assume it was a male assailant. I am guessing the man was large in stature or at least his hands were very large. The victim had sex within a few hours of the attack but a condom was used. Early indications were that the sex was consensual and not forced. Since I have no DNA it will be almost impossible to determine who the other party was."

"Well, that is a good start. Do you know if CSU has anything from the clothes?"

Lanie looks at her notes "No, not yet. I just got the clothes over to them about an hour ago. It will probably be tomorrow before we know much."

Lanie's computer chimes with a message. She steps over to the screen and looks. "We have a hit on her fingerprints. Her name is Beth Appleton DDS. She is a dentist and lives over in Bed-Stuy."

"Really?" Kate states "I hung around there growing up"

"OK Kate! I have to ask. Is that where you knew this Mark guy from?"

"What do you mean? We went to school together. I knew him many years ago"

"No, that is not what I am asking. He is the BAD BOY you told me about back when we first met, Right?"

Kate looks down to her feet trying to find words to use so as to not sound like a lovesick girl who just had an old flame return to her life.

"Yes Lanie. He was my first love. Or at least I thought it was. He and I had some fun. We did some stuff that thinking back now, I wish we had not done. He and I went on some rides that were fun. Some were dangerous. Some. Well I would rather not talk about now."

Kate, please tell me you are not going to do something stupid with this guy. You know something like fall in love with him again and dump Castle?"

"NO! Lanie! I will not go down that rabbit hole. Mark is old news. I mean we had our fun. Once! That was then and this is now. I belong to Rick now"

"Girl I hope so. You may not have realized what Castle, Ryan and I saw out on the street this morning, but it didn't look too innocent to me. It looked scary. Please! Please don't mess up this thing you've got with Castle. He loves you totally. I can see it and so can everyone else. If he thought you were smitten with this guy. Well I don't know what he would do."

"OK! OK! I read you loud and clear"


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks everyone for reading and for your comments**

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CHAPTER 3

Castle on a Plane ALONE

Riding on an airplane for almost six hours is bad enough. But to ride for six hours while out of contact with your girlfriend, who just met back up with her old boyfriend, is hell.

Of course he would be riding on a plane without WiFi connections. He always flew in planes with WiFi connections. But today, this plane's internet is not functioning. So he has no way to contact Kate. To talk to her. To make sure she doesn't forget him. To make sure she remembers who he is.

He tries to sleep. Kate had awakened him early this morning with a murder case. He only had about four hours sleep the night before. But no matter how hard he tried, sleep would not come. He had just walked away from the love of his life and got on an airplane. This after he watched her smile and laugh and hug the man that Castle despised more than anyone he ever knew. And he had not even met this man before this morning.

There is always this one person that everyone seems to have. That first love. That special crush. The "one that got away". And it seems that Kate's special one just showed up out of the blue. And to make it worse, he is no longer a Bad Boy. He's a well established lawyer. Partner in a well renowned and rock solid law firm. A well respected member of the bar. A model citizen.

For the first time since he and Kate had their little talk on the swing set and she told him that liking someone was not enough. That she had to move off her mother's case to have a relationship with him. Richard Castle is actually worried about his relationship between him and Kate. What if she really, really liked this guy? Or worse! Never stopped liking him! What if she still has unresolved feelings about him? Now that he is no longer a BAD BOY, what happens? What if she moves on these feelings?

So what can Castle do? He's sitting on an airplane, out of contact with his girlfriend and worries that she is going to reconnect with this guy while he is off signing books based on her. He is way too invested in Katherine Beckett to give up. There is no way on God's green earth that he will let some lawyer come between him and Kate. So Rick decides that he will keep her attention away from the lawyer and on him. He grabs a notepad he keeps in his pocket and starts making notes.

"Flowers. Send Flowers. No, not plain flowers! Roses! Lots of Rose! A dozen morning, noon and night."

"Candy. Be sure to send chocolate. He wants chocolate. I hope she does too"

"Cards. Send cards…no wait, letters. Send love letters"

Castle looks out the window from his seat. The sun is overhead and he looks down to the Earth below. He has never felt such tightness in his stomach. He is on the verge of tears. "Why am I so worried about Kate? I love her and she loves me. Oh! Wait. She has never said she loves me. In all these months since we started officially dating she has not said she loves me. She heard me say it three times."

For the next five and one half hours, Richard Castle sits in a comfortable first class seat, wide awake, staring at the bulkhead in front of him.

When the airplane finally lands and the captain tells them they can turn on their electronic devices, Castle grabs his cell phone to call Kate. He looks at a blank screen. His Battery is DEAD.

Castle exits the plane and makes a mad dash for the baggage claim. His charger is in his checked luggage. Why did he not put it into his carry on? Oh, this time he was so mentally centered on this Mark guy, he forgot about the charger.

Standing in baggage claim Castle looks around for a pay phone. There are no pay phones in the airport anymore. Of Course! No one needs pay phones. Everyone uses call phones and tablets.

After Castle finally gets his suitcases from baggage claim, he starts looking for his car service. He sees no one holding a card for "Richard Castle". He walks from door to door looking. Then he finally sees a card marked J. Rook. Paula, you can really get under Castle's skin sometimes! Note to self "Get new publishing agent. One with less sense of humor"

Castle gets into the limo with his bags. He does not even let the driver load them into the trunk .He wants to make sure he gets the charger out. The limo has charger port so he can get his phone back up and call back to Kate. After he gets into the limo, he goes looking for his charger. When he gets to the bag with the charger there is a note that says "SORRY!" Then hand written "During TSA security check, they accidentally caught charger cord in the zipper and damaged the cable" It has a contact number to get compensation for the damage. The charger cord has been cut in two.

He hollers at the driver to stop at the electronics store of the phone's brand to get a replacement for the cable. The driver says he knows a place that is easier to get into and cheaper and takes Castle to the little hole in the wall electronics store. Castle jumps out, runs inside and in just a matter of minutes he is back into the car and headed out again.

Back in the car, he rips open the package pulls the cord out. He hurriedly plugs the cable into the phone then realizes that the end that should connect to the USB port in the car is different. It can only be plugged into its own transformer. Great! What else can go wrong today. He looks over and sees that the car has a regular 120volt electric outlet. He plugs the charger cable into the wall transformer and plugs this into the outlet.

The puff of smoke that flows up from this phone along with the smell of burned electronics tells him what else can go wrong today.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

The next morning when Beckett arrives at the precinct, she puts down her bag and hangs her coat over her chair. She looks at the chair next to her desk where her guy usually resides after bringing her, her morning coffee, but today that chair is empty. Richard Castle has spoiled Kate Beckett. She lets out a long sign then walks into the break room and has to make herself a cup of coffee. While making her coffee, she realizes she has not heard from Castle last night or this morning, either. She looks at her phone. No missed calls, no messages.

She hears a familiar voice from the doorway. It's detective Esposito. "Morning boss. Having to make your own coffee today, huh?"

"Yeah"

"Well sorry, but I will definitely leave those coffee making duties to your special guy"

"Thanks. Do we have anything new on our victim?"

"Yes. She had a dental practice in Bed-Stuy. In fact it was a very successful practice. She was expanding into a larger building. Or more accurately trying to expand. She was fighting an issue about the building she was trying to purchase. It seems this building was in a restricted area and the architectural commission didn't want her to change the face of the structure. The building has some historic value and if she bought it, she wanted to replace the front with modern store glass and doors. She evidently was fighting a battle with the planning department over this."

"So, is there anything or anyone related to the decision making process that could have caused her to be murdered?"

"Nothing I can find. The zoning commission meets on cases like this all the time and never gets into much of a scrape over this. It is usually textbook answers when this stuff happens. But I will do some more investigating to see what I can find out. "

"Great. Keep me informed" as Beckett approaches her desk, her phone rings "Beckett!

Oh hello Mark. No! Not a bad time. No I don't have plans for tonight. Dinner? OK. Where? Got it! I'll see you there"

Ryan is sitting at his desk listening to this conversation without comment. He really wants to say something to Beckett. Everyone in the station knows about her and Castle except Gates. Well actually Ryan thinks Gates already knows and is just looking the other way. Oh, part of him feels it is really none of his business. Who is he kidding? Lanie, Esposito and himself watched Beckett and Castle almost tear each other apart over the feelings that they were denying toward each other. Now that they are a couple, something like this Mark guy would be poison for these two and cause irreparable damage. If Kate only knew how everyone wants to protect her relationship with Castle. Ryan wants to say "Is it a good idea to meet with your old flame for dinner while the man who loves you more than life itself is not here?" Kevin thinks better of this than to start up that conversation without proper backup.

Beckett picks her phone back up and dials the medical examiner's office. "Hey Lanie? Got anything new for me? Really? Fantastic! On my way. See you in a few.

Beckett grabs her coat and turn to Ryan. "Heading over to the ME's office. Let me know if you get anything new pops up on this case"

"OK boss. See you later"

Ryan picks up his phone and starts to dial Castle's phone then thinks better of it. What possible good can come from me calling Castle and telling him that Kate has a dinner date with her old flame? Kevin hangs up the phone and stares over to the elevator and watches Beckett exit the floor.

When Kate gets into the elevator, she looks at her phone to see if maybe she missed a call from Castle. No missed calls, no messages. She dials Castle's number but it goes straight to voice mail. She starts wondering what is going on.

When Kate arrives at the ME's office she goes looking for Dr Parish "Lanie, where are you?"

Kate hears a voice answer fro the far side of the room. "Over here" Lanie answers

Beckett sees Lanie sitting at one of the tables, using it for a desk "What do you have?"

"The blood we found on the clothes was not the victim's. My guess it is from whoever took her jewelry. It looks like they grabbed her necklace and earrings and just pulled it off of her. My thinking is that it may have had a sharp edge and the killer, thief cut himself and then wiped his hands on her clothes."

"That explains the blood and the lack of jewelry. Anything more on the COD?"

"No. Strangulation as we suspected. Time of death was around 2AM."

"What about her clothes?"

"Well she was dressed for an evening of cocktails, dinner, or dancing. Do we know if she had a regular boyfriend?"

"No not really. We tried to contact her dentist practice, but it is closed today with no emergency number. We will try tomorrow to talk to her staff and find out more information"

The main phone rings and Lanie picks up "Dr. Parish." She listens for a minute. "OK detective Beckett is here with me and I will give her the information" Lanie hangs up the phone

"The DNA came back to a known street drug dealer named Max O'Brien. The lab is forwarding the details over to Ryan and Esposito as we speak"

"I wonder if this is a drug deal gone wrong?"

"There were no drugs in her system. So I don't think she was a user"

"Maybe she is a dealer. Well, the boys will follow up and see what they can find"

Lanie looks directly at Beckett "Kate. Can I say something?"

"Sure"

"What is the deal with this Mark guy? I understand you have a date with him tonight?"

Beckett glares at her best friend "Who told you that? It is NOT a date! Anyway I am not doing anything wrong. We are old friends and we are going to catch up on old times. That's all!"

"Catching up on OLD times? Are you sure that's all that's going on? From what you told me, those OLD times were pretty wild old times! Right?"

"Lanie!"

"Don't' Lanie me girlfriend. How does Castle feel about all this?"

"I haven't talk to Castle since he left"

"What? Are you telling me that you are hiding this from Castle?"

"NO! I just haven't heard from him since he left yesterday."

"OH Kate!"

"What?

"After he saw what happened yesterday morning….I don't know what he thinks"

"There was nothing to see"

"Yeah! Right! Kevin saw it. I saw it. And most importantly, Castle saw it! Your old flame shows up and now you're going out on a date with him"

"NO! It is not a date. Just dinner, and catch up. That's all"

"Girl. I hope so. Now go call Castle. Tell him you love him. Send him a naked picture of yourself. But do something to make sure he knows that he is still your one and only."


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks everyone for the comments. I am having a blast writing this one. **

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CHAPTER 5

The Book Signing

Castle is totally frustrated about his telephone. He tells the driver to get him to a cell phone store so he can bet a new phone and call Kate. He needs to talk to her and he needs to do it now, not later.

The driver responds "Sorry Mr. Castle but your book signing is in an hour and we are forty-five minutes from the store even if the traffic is good. But they radio says there is a wreck on the freeway and we are going to have to detour to some surface roads to get there even close to the start time."

Richard Castle is sitting in the back seat of a nice comfortable limo frustrated by the events of today. His girlfriend has met up with an old flame, his cell phone is blown up and now he can't go get a new one until after his book signing. He looks at his watch. It is 5:00 pm local lime. That means eight in New York. Kate should be at home getting a nice bubble bath, relaxing with a glass of wine, maybe reading over the first draft of his next book. Ok He feels better now. She should be home. All is well. He relaxes his head on the seat back and drifts off to sleep.

The driver wakes Castle when they arrive at the book store. Rick felt like he had only laid his head down for mere seconds yet it was almost an hour that he slept. He gets out of the car and is met with a crowd of cheering fans. Security escorts Castle to the rear of the store where a table has been set up for him to sign his books. He looks around the room for Paula. She said she would be here, but he doesn't see her anywhere.

Now for the next two hours he is met with the usual line of "I'm you biggest fan", "My mother loves your books", "My sister loves your books", "My wife loves your books" Castle turns his head upward toward this one guy with a questioning look. "Really?" The man looks back down toward Castle. "Actually I'm in love with Nikki Heat. Sorry!" Richard Castle is thinking, "Yeah! So am I"

Castle scans the still long line and notices that there are several men in line wanting for his autograph. This is different from the old days of Derrick Storm. It was always women only. Now with the Nikki Heat series being so popular, men have joined the crowds. This is really good for book sales. When he finally gets to talk to Kate, he will have to tell her the news.

Finally when eight o'clock rolls around, Castle gets up and thanks the fans that stuck around. He looks around for security to escort him back to the car. His driver opens the door and tells Rick the next stop will be shorter.

"What do you mean NEXT STOP? I thought we were finished and you would take me to my hotel?"

"No sir, there is a cocktail party at the Hilton downtown then I can take you to your hotel. for the night." Castle slumps down into his seat, frustrated.

The drive is only about twenty minutes. When he arrives at the hotel, they enter the lounge where there are several newspaper reporters, TV and radio journalists. Castle looks around for his publisher manager Paula, but again, she is no where to be found.

Castle takes several interviews. The usual questions prevail. "Where do you get your inspiration for your stories? Is detective Beckett still involved in helping you get your facts correct about crime scenes? Is she traveling with you today?

"Well, the real word provides me with plenty of inspiration in man's inhumanity with man. I really don't have to look further than just down the street"

"Yes detective Beckett is still very much involved in my research"

The final questions he answers "No, she has a job to do keeping New York safe from the criminal element" When his real answer was "NO! But I wish she was here next to me right now!"

A little after ten the driver comes to retrieve Castle and take him away. As they leave the reception Castle says "get me to a telephone store"

His driver looks at his watch. "Sorry, Mr. Castle the stores all close at nine. Maybe we can stop on the way to the airport in the morning"

Frustrated castle responds "fine! Be sure to pick me up early"

"Yes sir. Will do"

The trip to the hotel is silent. Upon arrival and after Castle gets checked in he looks at his watch. It's after 11:30 that makes it 2:30 in the morning in New York. He decides he will not call from the hotel phone. He gets his laptop out and boots up. Waiting for the hotel wireless connection, he thinks about what he is going to say besides the fact that he is out of contact until he gets his phone replaced in the morning.

He types a brief message and hits the send key, closes the computer and heads for the bed room. His body is still on New York time so he is more than ready for sleep. His head hits the pillow and he is out.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Dinner With an Old Friend

Kate Beckett enters Vetoni's Italian Restaurant in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood where she grew up. She looks around for Mark. She sees him sitting in a booth along the inside wall opposite from the front. She walks over and greets him.

"Mark, you're early"

"Yeah, I got finished with a deposition sooner than anticipated so I thought I would just come down and wait. You are right on time. Just like I figured you would be, since you're a cop and all."

"What? You think all police are schedule freaks or what?"

"No! I just remember that when I had my dealings with the police they were always right on time. Especially when they were arresting me!"

Beckett chuckles "yes, you did have your share of confrontations with police if I remember correctly"

"Yes WE both did! Didn't we"

"OK! I was there too on a few of those occasions"

The waitress comes over and asks for their drink orders. They tell her they are ready to order their meal. Mark orders the lasagna and Kate orders the special chief salad with the house dressing. She tells Mark that is one of her favorite bistros and that she and Castle come here often when they are in this part of town.

"So" Beckett starts up,"You became a lawyer? After all the time you spent behind bars, you decided to see if you could spend as much on the other side?

"Well sort of"

"What did you do before? I mean after you left town? We all knew about the issues with your family, especially with your dad. He was not happy with you and the direction things were going?"

"Kate, I went straight to a recruiting office and joined the service. I figured that the Navy was a good way to go. I went to boot camp and then after a short deployment in the Persian Gulf. I asked for transfer and got an assignment as a clerk in a JAG office in Texas. That is where I got interested in law. I saw the benefit of helping people legally. So after my discharge, I used by GI benefits to go to school. I had spent several years in Texas so I went back there after Harvard and started working in the oil and gas business."

"Isn't that boring?"

"Actually, no. I did mostly real estate law. Land issues, mineral rights, that type thing. It is really fun sometimes. Back in Texas we had a lot of property with oil under it, but the ownership of the land was a little vague"

"How do you have ownership of property not be clear?"

"One example, we had a case in East Texas where the land had changed hands back in 1936. The owner of the land traded the land for a Ford pickup truck."

Kate laughs "really? They traded land with oil under it for a truck?"

"Yes, it really was not that uncommon for trades to happen that way. One farmer might trade a cow for a horse. Or a dozen chickens for a pig. So trading land to get a pick up was fairly normal. To the farmer, it just made sense"

"How in the world did you sort it out?"

"We had to go to the original county records and see the last registered land owner who possessed the mineral rights. Then trace that family to get a clear title to the properties' owner. Then get them to do a quit claim deed. Sometimes it took weeks and months to find all the descendants and get them to sign off."

"Wow. I guess you saw a lot of interesting things doing that?"

"Yes I did. So, how about you? I'm real sorry about you mom. I really liked her."

"You know she did not like you or for that matter anyone we ran with back then?"

"Kate, we deserved our reputation back then. You have to admit we were not poster children for good teenagers, were we?"

Kate laughs again "No we were not. So did you ever find love?"

"No, Kate I did not. I am still alone. How about you? You seem happy."

"I am happy, Mark. I have a man. A man who loves me and I love him dearly. As much as I loved you back in the day"

"Or at least you thought you loved me?"

"Mark, I did love you! You know you were my very first? I mean you…"

"Yes Kate, I know. You were my first, too. But we grew didn't we? We changed. We became who we are today."

Beckett smiles with the knowledge as to where they were then and where they are today.

BUT!Outside in the cold, the media is always lurking. The Nosey Media is looking. Looking for some story. Some tidbit to print or post or spread on the 11 o'clock news. Tonight is no different. A free lance photographer just happens sees Kate Beckett sitting in a cafe having a meal with someone who this reporter knows is not Richard Castle. He knows full well that Beckett is the model for Nikki Heat and most reporters know or at least think they know the romantic interest of one certain mystery writer So he takes this opportunity to sit back with his camera and see if he can get some small scoop to sell to a tabloid somewhere.

And as luck would have it, before the evening finishes, he gets his chance. After these two finish their meal and conclude their conversation with laughing, touching one another's hands, and finally standing and giving a long and very friendly hug before separating.

This camera man fills his digital card with some juicy images...


	7. Chapter 7

**WOW! The comments from the last chapter were great. Thanks**

**Just a touch of trivia.**

** My story line about the farmer trading land with oil below for a pickup truck is based on an actual event that happened to a family member of mine many years ago. I actually saw the letter from the land man.**

* * *

CHAPTER 7

Richard Castle is awakened by the ringing of the hotel room phone and the pounding on the door.

"OK! OK! Give it a rest" he says while climbing out of bed and dragging himself to the door.

When he gets the door open he is looking directly into the face of the driver "Mr. Castle, we have to hurry. You are going to be late for your plane"

"What time is it?" Castle moans while looking at his watch.

"10:30" the driver says as he starts grabbing Castle's bags and heading toward the door.

"You were supposed to wake me up early so I could go get my phone replaced"

"Mr. Castle, I have been trying for a solid hour. You must have been really tired. So hurry, I will barely get you to the airport in time for your plane"

"I have to stop for my phone"

"We may not make it now. I can't stop. You might have to get something at the airport"

The driver leads Castle out of the hotel down to his car that is waiting in the driveway.

As they drive to the airport Castle remarks about each and every cell phone store they pass. But to no avail. The driver continues until they arrive at the airport. After Castle leaves first class check-in and clears the security check point he makes a mad dash to find a cell phone kiosk. He sees one just out side the gate that he is scheduled for departure. He quickly grabs a phone from the display. He really doesn't care about any features or anything else. He just wants one that works and he can use it to call Kate.

The clerk rings up the purchase and tells Castle that it can take up to two hours for the phone to activate and be able for him to use to make calls. He also tells him to be sure to charge the phone for 24 hours before trying to use it. Castle looks at his watch. His plane leaves in thirty minutes. He is hoping that he can make a call. He opens the package and plugs the phone into a charging station and lets the battery build up a little before he tries to make a call.

When the attendant announces that they are boarding first class, where Castle has a seat, he tries for the first time to call. It rings once then a recording comes on and says that the number he is calling does not accept call from anonymous numbers and disconnects. He looks at the phone and the screen says "Charge" So it still needs charging before he can try again.

One more road block in him trying to call Kate. He unplugs the phone and boards the plane. Once on board, he connects the phone to the seat back charger and rests his head on the headrest for the flight to Las Vegas. He figures that when they to Las Vegas, he will call Alexis or the station's main line and get thru to Kate.

He is jolted awake by the flight attendant when the plan stops at the terminal in Sin City. As he gets up to exit the plane he realized he knows the flight attendant. "Hello Rick" The attendant is the one he ran around with when he and Kate were on the outs. She is looking at him with lust. "Back again?"

"UH! Yeah. Here for a book signing"

"Well if you want to get together again, I am always available for you!"

"Good to know. But thanks anyway" Castle grabs his carry on and makes a mad dash for the door to exit the plane as fast as he can.

As he exits thru the turnstiles to baggage claim, he realizes he left the phone he just bought connected to the charger at his seat on the plane. "GREAT"

In baggage claim, he retrieves his bags again and looking around for a driver, he knows to look for any of his characters. There he finds a man holding a card that says D Storm

Castle goes up to the man and says "Lets GO!" The man takes Castle's bags and starts toward the door when Castle says. "I don't care what orders you may have. Take me to the nearest cell phone store"

"But Mr. Castle, I was told to take you directly to…"

"I said I don't care what you were told. Nearest cell phone store! NOW!"

They drive off the airport lot and within a half mile, they pull into the phone store. Castle looks at the driver and tells him to wait here and he will be back as soon as he can get a new phone.

Inside the store Castle hands the clerk his burned out phone, tells him the short story of what happened and that he knows his insurance will probably not pay for the replacement. The clerk smiles and tells him that we will just look and see what we can do.

The clerk enters the telephone number into the computer, looks at the screen and says "Well, Mr. Castle it seems that we probably can give you a replacement for just the cost of the deductible on the insurance. We will also be able to retrieve your contact list from the cloud and also get any lost voice or text messages. I will just need to get the password on the account"

At which point, Castle remembers that Alexis set this phone up for him when she gave it to him for his last birthday. He has no idea what she used for his password.

"Let's try some of my normal passwords"

The clerk is not really secure letting him do this. It looks too much like a fraudulent attempt to get into the phone but then he says "go ahead"

"Alexis" NO

"Martha" NO

"Nikki" NO

"Heat" NO

"Jamison"NO

"Rook"NO

"Derrick"NO

"Storm"NO

"Kate"NO

"Beckett" NO

Richard Castle looks flustered trying to come up with the password that Alexis choose. He asks the man if he can use a phone to call his home in New York and find out if Alexis is there. The phone rings three times and his voice mail answers. So he hangs up and call Alexis cell. Again he gets the voice mail. He leaves a message to tell her what happened and to call his hotel and leave the password with the desk and he will get it later today.

Castle hangs the telephone up turns and thanks the clerk then tells him he will be back tomorrow with the password to get the new phone.

Richard Castle walks out the door and gets into the limo and tells the driver to take him to wherever he is supposed to be. Castle sinks into the back seat and stares out the window at the hot dessert


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Another lonely day for Kate.

Kate still has not heard from Castle. She looks at her phone. No missed calls, no messages. Nothing! What is going on she wonders? She opens her computer. There are no e-mails from Castle. She picks up her call phone and calls his number. The call goes directly to voice mail again. About this time Ryan and Esposito enter the bullpen.

"Hey boss" Ryan speaks up "we've got a little more information on our victim. We have been at her office this morning. She was buying a building and planning on renovating it for an expanded practice. She was setting up for multiple dentists to be able to practice together as a group.

Esposito continues "but the historical society stopped her plans with the renovation. She was in the process of getting a waiver from the city when this happened"

Ryan says"Her staff also confirmed that she had a regular boyfriend. No one there knew his name. The doctor kept her personal life, personal, so thay don't have his name. They figure he will start calling when he can't locate her."

"Or he is the killer and he won't try to find her" Beckett comments

"But we are also working to find him. Her staff said that they will call let us know when he calls" Ryan answers

"OK. What about any other evidence? The DNA from the blood, this drug dealer" Beckett looks at her notes "Max O'Brian. His blood was on the victim"

"Uniforms are out looking for him." Ryan says "He'll show up sooner or later"

Esposito adds "we also searched the victim's apartment. We found evidence that a man has been there regularly. There is also jewelry safe in the closet. It had a few items in it but it looks like several things might be missing"

"Any indication what jewelry might be unaccounted for?"

"No. We did get her cell phone number and tech is checking with the provider to get all inbound and outbound phone calls"

"Great" Beckett responds "Keep me informed"

Ryan and Esposito look at each other questioning who will ask Beckett the next question. Finally Esposito speaks up "Beckett, have you heard from Castle?"

"No I haven't. Have either of you?"

Ryan answers"No. We thought surely you had talked to him by now"

"I've called several times and all I get is his voice mail. I guess he must be having too much fun out in LA or too much partying in Las Vegas"

Javi cannot help himself "Or maybe he thinks you might be having too much fun back here without him" The words have not even left his mouth and the detective wishes he had not said it

"What do you mean, Espo?"

"Look boss, Ryan and Lanie saw you with this Mark guy. So did Castle. We are not sure how he's taking it. That's all"

"Guys. There is nothing going on with Mark. And there will not be anything going on! Understood?"

"Got it" both chime in together

Esposito's desk phone rings and he answers it.

Beckett walks back to her desk and looks again at her computer for a message from Castle. Still nothing. She looks at her phone. Still no calls. Now she is getting a little concerned.

Esposito hangs up and heads over to Beckett's desk. "Beckett! They picked up Max O'Brien. They are bringing him into the station."

"Great, now we should get some answers"

Moments later, her phone rings. Caller ID says "Number Blocked" Beckett hits the ignore button. These type calls are a constant problem with the police. Sometimes it is drug deals. Sometimes it is other criminal elements, but always it is something that they don't want to get into.

The elevator door chimes and two uniformed officers enter the area escorting a handcuffed man. On of the officers is carrying a bag with evidence tape covering the opening.

Beckett steps over and tells the uniforms to place the man into interrogation room 1. The officer tells Beckett they found the victim's possessions in the suspect's apartment. Purse, earrings, necklace watch and two rings including an engagement ring.

Beckett takes inventory thanks the two officers and steps over to Esposito's desk. "Well, we now have someone who looks good for this."

Esposito responds "Yes it does" while Beckett is looking at the contents of the bag she has in her hand.

"OK Espo, let's go do our jobs and get this case closed"

The two detectives enter the box, Beckett drops the file and evidence bag on the table. She looks directly at the suspect "Do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

"What do you mean? I didn't kill anyone! I haven't done anything but grab some jewelry off a dead hooker"

Beckett is furious "that WOMAN you called a hooker was in fact a doctor. And one of the rings you stole from her was an engagement ring! So there is some guy out there looking for his fiancé but you killed her! We found the dead woman's purse and jewelry in your possession! So where does it leave us in this conversation? Are you ready to tell us about what happened or do I just file capital murder charges and get this over with?"

"I told you I didn't kill her"

"I have your blood on the victim's clothes! You are in possession of her purse and jewelry! So I think I have all I need to go to the DA. What do you think?"

"I think you need to go arrest the guy that I saw fighting with her! That's what I think"

"Oh so you say you saw someone else kill this woman?"

"I saw a man arguing with her. They were really loud. Then he grabbed her by the neck "

"What were they arguing about?"

"All I heard was him say that he would love whoever he wanted and for her to get away from him. Then he grabbed her and I took off."

"Why didn't you help her?"

"This guy was tall. I mean over 6 foot. If you haven't noticed, I'm only 5 foot 3. This guy would have killed me too. I took off then came back later. She was already dead so I took her stuff. I cut my hand pulling the necklace off. It had some sharp edges when I grabbed it See?"

He shows Beckett his hand where he has a pretty deep cut in the palm.

Beckett tells the suspect to sit tight and she and Esposito leave the room.

"Javi, what do you think?"

"His story does make sense. He is not big enough to have been the killer. Lanie said the killer had large hands. Did you see his? They are relativity small for a man."

"OK, we have him for possession of stolen property. Let's hold him and see if maybe the boyfriend is a larger man. From what Max said, it sounds like the boyfriend might just be having second thoughts about getting married."

"Ok, I'll put him down in holding" Esposito goes back into interrogation and takes the prisoner downstairs.

Beckett goes back to her desk and sits in her chair. This time she is staring at Castle's empty chair. She looks at her phone again and dials Rick's number. Again it goes to voice mail. This time she leaves a message. The then looks at her e-mails, again nothing. She is thinking "why have I not heard from him? This is totally not like Castle." Just by chance she opens her junk mail folder on her computer. There it is. A message from an e-mails address that the system had trapped. Beckett opens the message

"Hey sweets. My cell phone burned up. Trying to get new one. Will call as soon as I get it replaced. Love you. Rick"

She's feeling a lot better. Until her phone rings "Beckett. Oh Hi Lanie. I heard from Castle, he….."

"WHAT IS IN THE NEWSPAPER?"


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Castle arrives at the book signing at the Borders Books in the Westgate Towne Centre. He is scheduled to be there from 1:00 until 3:00. Then next stop from 6:00 till 8:00 at the Borders Books on the east side of the city. At least they stayed away from the strip for these book signings. Castle doesn't mind the strip except trying to navigate it can be frustrating sometimes. But he thinks why am I worrying? I'm not driving.

At both of these stops today, he experienced the same new adventure as he did in LA. as far as the fan base is concerned. He saw that there were many more men than had been in the past. That's good. This way he knows he is succeeding in his efforts of expanding his base. Nikki Heat is a real winner for his books. She is bringing more readers to table while at the same time Kate is bringing more happiness to his personal life. He sits back in the cool air conditioned limo while they ride to his next and final stop for the evening, another cocktail party this time at the Mirage Hotel.

Richard Castle goes inside and is greeted by the usual press. At least this time he sees that Paula has decided to be present.

"No nice you could join us this time, Paula"

"Rick, give it a rest. I have been busy getting you set up for all your promotion stuff. Hey, one change, Denver tomorrow had to cancel, so you will fly out in the morning for Dallas. This is cutting your tour down by one day. I'm sure you don't mind, do you?"

"No, Paula. That is wonderful"

"I'm sure Beckett won't mind either"

"What do you mean?"

"OH Rick! Everyone knows that you and Kate are an item now. So just don't even bother trying to deny any part of it"

"Who knows?" Castle is suddenly showing some concern

"All of the people in your publishing arm know. I can't speak for her co workers. However, I do think they know. They aren't stupid. The two of you are just so adorable together"

"Wow! You know how to start off a conversation. So, where do you need me?"

"Just go mingle" her cell phone rings "let me get this and I will be find you later"

Castle walks away and smiles and shakes hands and speaks to everyone he comes by. In the mean time, whoever Paula is talking to it is causing her to panic. She starts looking around for Castle but he has been cornered by the local television station's entertainment reporter.

Castle has reached the point he can almost see the questions in order, just like yesterday in Los Angeles.

_"Where do you get your inspiration for your stories? Is detective Beckett still involved in helping you get your facts correct about crime scenes? Is she traveling with you today?_

"Well, the real word provides me with plenty of inspiration in man's inhumanity with man. I really don't have to look further than just down the street"

_ "Yes detective Beckett is still very much involved in my research"_

_ The final questions he answers "No, she has a job to do keeping New York safe from the criminal element" When his real answer was "NO! But _

_ I wish she was here next to me right now!"_

Except this time the last question is not the same one as yesterday. Instead of asking if detective Beckett came with him on this trip the questions is:

"Well, Rick, what do you think of detective Beckett's new boyfriend, Marcus Simmons? Have you met him yet?

Castle looks at the reporter and says "Excuse me? Who?"

At this moment Paula finds Castle and interrupts the interview. "Sorry everyone! I need to speak to Mr. Castle real quick" Paula grabs Rick's arm and pulls him out into the corridor.

Castle is visibly shaken. "Paula, what is going on? What are these people talking about? What boyfriend of Kate's"

"Rick! I don't know any details, but it seems that Beckett was spotted and photographed with another man last night at a restaurant in Bed-Stuy. They seemed awfully friendly. But this photographer got several pictures of them holding hands and hugging. Right now, that is all I know!"

Castle leans back against the wall in the corridor. "Where are these pictures?"

Paula produces one on her phone. Castle immediately recognizes the man from the crime scene.

"Get me to my hotel! I need to go to my room, Paula. I don't want to talk to anyone else tonight! OK?"

"Sure Rick. I'll get the driver to take you to your hotel. What do you want me to tell the press about this man?"

"Nothing, No Comment. I don't want us to say a word about him. Nothing. Nothing at all"

Paula steps out to get the driver then re enters the meeting room and tells the reporters that Mr. Castle has fallen ill and needs to return to his hotel room. And thanks everyone for coming.

Castle's ride to the Suite is nothing short of hell. He arrives at his hotel and checks in. The desk clerk tells him that there have been dozens of messages left for him to pick up. Castle looks at the notes. There are at least 20 messages from Beckett. Without reading them he does see the words "Sorry", "Not What It Seems", and "Please" written on most of them. He wads them all up and drops them into the trash container in the lobby.

There is one note from Alexis. It contains only one word. Castle understands it is the password his daughter used on his phone

ALWAYS


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Ryan sits at his desk looking blankly at a computer screen trying to figure out his next move. He wants to help Beckett but he really doesn't know where to start. She left out after the call from Lanie. She told Kevin that she would be gone the rest of the day. This deal with what the papers are calling Beckett's boyfriend has really hit the fan.

He really needs to concentrate on the murder case in front of him when his phone rings.

"Ryan. OK. Where? Thanks. We'll be ready"

He looks toward the break room when he sees Esposito and Gates talking. He walks up to the pair and waits for a break in the conversation. When the captain sees Ryan approach she tells Esposito that the will finish their conversation later.

After Gates steps away Ryan asks "What was that about? "

"I think she knows about Beckett and Castle and now she is worried about them after that newspaper article came out. She wants everyone to get together later and see if we can all help resolve this. What do you have?"

"They found the fiancé"

"Great, Where?"

"Right in front of us"

"What do you mean?"

"He is on the plan commission. He was the one that is trying to help the victim to get her building approved. He called the doctor's office this morning because he couldn't get hold of her"

Esposito says "Where is he now?"

"On his way here"

"OK Great"

The elevator doors open and a tall well dressed man steps out and walks toward the bull pin. Esposito and Ryan look at each other. "Ryan speaks first "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah! Tall, large hands. He fits the bill"

The man says "I am looking for Detective Beckett"

"She is gone right now, I am detective Esposito and this is detective Ryan. We are her partners. Can we help you?"

"Yes, I'm Greg Compton. I'm Beth Appleton's fiancé. They told me over at her office that you needed to talk to me. Where's Beth?"

Ryan points to the chair next to his desk "Please sit down Mr. Compton. I have some bad news for you"

Greg Compton is visibly shaking when Ryan tells him that his fiancé is dead.

"What happened, was it an accident, what?"

"I'm sorry to have to tell you, but she was murdered. We have to ask. Where were you Monday night into early Tuesday?"

"UH!" he thinks for a moment "I was in a planning commissioner meeting. It started about 7:00. We got out a little after midnight"

"Where was the meeting" Esposito asks

"City hall. We have a conference room where we hold the sessions"

"So you have plenty of witnesses that you were there?"

"OH. Yeah. The other 14 members and there were probably fifty people in attendance and the meetings are broadcast on the city's cable TV channel"

That pretty much covers where Mr. Compton was during the murder.

"How was your relationship with the victim?" Esposito questions

"We were doing great. In fact better than great. I just asked her to marry me a week ago. OH! I just got her ring back to her that afternoon. We had to get it sized. I picked it up and took it to her place early Monday before my meeting. Did she sill have it on?"

"No, it had been taken along with her other jewelry, but we did recover it from a suspect.

Ryan starts the next line of questions. "I hate to ask this, but it is very important. Did the two of you have sex Monday?"

He turns red when the question is asked "Yes, Why?"

"Well, there was evidence of sex and we wanted to be sure it was you or a suspect. Sorry, but we had to ask"

Esposito changes direction now that it appears that the boyfriend had no opportunity or reason to murder the victim.

"Ok, do you know anyone who might want your girlfriend dead? Was she having trouble with anyone? An upset patient, co worker, neighbor?

"No. Her practice was doing very well. She never mentioned anything about issues. I mean, the only thing going on was the building she was trying to buy. The neighborhood had an association that did not want her changing the building front, but these things never end in violence. We see them all the time down at city hall. They usually get settled and everyone is happy in the end."

You are on the planning commission. If you were helping her, isn't that a conflict?" Ryan questions

"It would be, but I have officially excused myself from her case. The neighbors know that I am doing this. I have hidden nothing about this case from them or the city. I usually met as her representative with the neighbors to discuss the case. We were getting close to a resolution so she could move forward.

"So she's had no conflicts of any kind that you know of?"

The witness looks off for a moment. "Well there is this one thing that happened a little odd."

"One of the members of the neighborhood association was acting a little too friendly with me. Beth did get a little concerned. But she had absolutely nothing to worry about. I told her that it would all work out OK "

"Who was the neighbor that you were having a problem with?

When Greg answered the two detectives tell Compton to sit tight while they go outside to discuss the situation.

Ryan looks over to his partner "I think I who the killer is" Esposito replies "Me Too"


	11. Chapter 11

**WOW ! Everyone is great. Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! For all your comments. I really appreciate you reading and especially liking my story. **

**In the header for chapter one, I said that this was messing with my sleep. **

**It really was! So now I hope it messes with yours**

**Thanks Again**

* * *

CHAPTER 11

Kate Beckett, in her loft, sitting on the floor beside her couch, crying like a baby. She has not felt this way since she was told about her mother's murder. After that day a dozen or so years ago, she thought that it was impossible to hurt that way again. But now she knows she really can hurt like that and maybe worse. Her loss this time is worse because of what she has lost. He is still out there. Still reachable. Just maybe she can't reach him ever again. Maybe he doesn't want to be reached. But! Kate Beckett is not giving up.

She did not think that this was going happen. She was just having diner with an old friend. Why did the paparazzi have to be there Why did they have to take pictures and plaster them all over the newspapers? And blow this totally out of proportion.

Mark does not love her. She does not love Mark. There is nothing between them. She loves Rick. She wants Rick.

Now, she can't even get him to call her back so she can explain. She has tried to call him every hour and half hour. The desk clerk at his hotel has told her not to call back again. "Mr. Castle has said that Kate Beckett is not to be put thru under any circumstance!"

She asked Lanie to call. But Castle refused to accept the call even from her. His cell phone still goes to voice mail.

Martha won't answer her calls. Alexis hung up on her.

She has a copy of paper with all the photographs that were taken. Lanie gave Kate the paper earlier. It's sitting on her lap. How can the papers write such lies about her?

She is not "Romantically Involved" with Mark like the paper suggested.

She was not "Holding Hands" with Mark. They only briefly touched during the course of the conversations.

They were not "Intimately Embracing" as the article stated. They hugged as they left the restaurant and nothing more.

Mark is just an old high school friend. Nothing more. The paper blew it all out of proportion.

What is she going to have to do to get Castle to see this? How can he see this if he won't call her back? How can she explain, if she can't talk to him and tell him.

Ryan, Lanie and Esposito are all three completely pissed at Kate right now. They told her it was a mistake to see Mark. It was a mistake to not say anything to Castle about Mark before he left.

She never thought that this was the way this would go. I guess that the Bad Boy reputation has followed Mark to this end.

Kate looks at her phone and in final desperation dials Paula's phone to see if she will at least talk to her.

When Paula answers the phone, Kate can tell that there is anger in her voice. The tone and phrase are the same as what Beckett heard at Castle's door that first night. That night when they changed from being just coworkers to being lovers.

"Beckett! What do you want" The only difference is the person saying it.

"Paula, please let me explain"

"Beckett, I don't know if there are enough words in the world to try and explain what you did to Rick. There are a million women on this planet that would cut off a limb to just kiss Richard Castle and then there is you. The one woman that Rick Castle actually was willing to wait for, however long it took. The one woman that Richard Castle actually wanted her to love him. That man loves you totally and completely. He wants no other woman but you. You are all the talks about. You are all the thinks about. You were his total world and what do you do? You spit in his face? So tell me what is it I am supposed to hear from you that will make me help you?"

The explanation out of Kate Beckett's mouth has Paula totally blown away.

"OK Kate! What do we need to do to get you and Rick back together? I'll do anything I can to help"

Kate tells Paula her plan and she agrees totally. Paula tells Kate that she will call her back in 30 minutes with details.

Beckett thanks Paula, hangs the phone up and leans back on her couch. There is a knock on the door.

Beckett gets up and struggles as she makes her way to the door, she thinks she can hear several voices outside. When she opens the door there stands Ryan, Jenny, Esposito, Lanie and Captain Gates.

"I guess this is an intervention, Huh?"


	12. Chapter 12

**OK! Please don't hunt me down and lynch me after reading this chapter. As I said before This story keeps me awake at night.**

**This chapter woke me up about 2:30 AM**

* * *

CHAPTER 12

It's all Over?

Richard Castle gets out of bed early in the morning. He takes a shower. He packs his suitcase and waits on the couch near the door of his hotel room.

He didn't really sleep last night. He spent most of last night just lying on his back looking up at the ceiling. His mind going ninety miles an hour.

What went wrong? What happened? Did he do something?

He thought they had moved to a better place. He thought they understood each other. That they both were past keeping secrets. Moving toward a place where they could have a life together. He was so ready for a life with her. He wanted her so badly. He still wants her, but he just doesn't really know now if she wants him or this Mark guy.

They were doing so well. They were moving slowly!

Slowly was ok with him. He knew she had her demons that still haunted her sometimes. She wanted to keep their relationship close to the vest. That was all ok with him.

She was concerned that they didn't belong together because he was famous and she was a simple cop. He told her he didn't grow up famous. He was simple too.

He saw her fear of being inadequate Just because he was rich and she was not. That did not make her inadequate.

But now all he can do is stare blankly at the television running the local morning news.

There is a knock on the door. He assumes it is the limo driver to pick him up. When he opens the door there is a courier. "Mr. Castle?" the man says looking at the delivery ticket.

"Yes"

"Please sign here"

Castle signs the man's delivery book and the driver hands over a bundle of flowers to Castle. He looks at the card. It says "SORRY!" It is signed Lanie. Why would Lanie send me flowers?

OH! OK Beckett! Since I told the desk to not let you in, you think sending flowers using Lanie's name will work! Well, it won't. He drops the flowers in the trash.

A few minutes later there is another knock on the door. This time there is a woman delivery person with a box. Castle goes ahead and takes the box. Inside is another box. A box of chocolate. The note this time is from Ryan and Esposito. It says "I understand you want chocolate?"

Boy, she using every trick in the book. He drops the box into the trash on top of the flowers and sits back down.

Within a very few minutes there is still another knock on the door. He almost doesn't open it. This time a there is a man with a smaller box is standing there. Castle takes the box inside and opens it. It is his new phone. The note inside is from Alexis

"Dad here is your replacement phone. All your contacts have been saved. All your messages are saved. I think you need to listen to all the messages that you missed, especially the first message that was sent Monday morning."

OK! Now what kind of games are they playing? I bet Beckett is behind this

Kate has somehow even been able to trap his own daughter into her little game. He opens the phone box and turns the power on. Sure enough the wallpaper image is a picture of Beckett holding a sign "SORRY"

Castle sits back down and plays the saved messages. The first one is date stamped Monday late morning.

Beckett's voice is on the recording "Castle, I should have talked to you this morning after I saw Mark and talked to him. There is a lot I need to tell you but I had to think it thru before I did. I promise I will give you all the details when you get back".

Castle hits the delete button

The next message is date stamped Monday afternoon. Again Kate's voice "Hey, I wanted to tell you that I am going to have dinner with Mark this evening. I am not hiding this from you. If you were here I would bring you with me so you could meet him too. Call me"

She can say that it was an innocent dinner meeting. The photographs in the paper seem to show something much different. Again he hits the delete button. As soon as he does the cell phone rings with a call from Paula. Castle hits the accept button

"Hey Paula" He listens for a moment "Ok! You're downstairs? I'll be right here. I have no where else I want to be"

He looks at the phone screen. It says that he has several messages. Alexis, mother, Paula has two and then three from Beckett. He opens and reads the messages from Alexis and his mother. Just fluff from them. "Miss you"," be careful"

Paula's message, he wished he'd had Monday. "Can't make. LA see you at Vegas party"

The first message from Beckett "Can't reach you. Call me" She sent that Monday

The last message was sent after her little date with Mark. Castle just puts the phone down. He doesn't even open the message.

He goes back to staring at the television with empty eyes

There is a knock on the door. He lets Paula in.

"Rick, we've had another change in plans. Dallas can't get a signing set up fast enough. So I've arranged another for another signing and cocktail party this afternoon at the Venetian. So, just rest up and the driver will be here to pick you up at 2:00 so be ready. OK?"

"Fine Paula" He responds with total emptiness in his voice. "Yeah, where would I be going? What would I be doing?"

Paula gives him an air kiss and says "See you later"

Castle sits back down and starts thinking "I guess could call up one hot flight attendant and see what she is doing today. She did tell me to call her if I wanted a good time. Maybe that is exactly what I need to do today. She helped me with my needs once before when I needed simple and uncomplicated. Maybe she can help me out with that again"

He reaches for his phone and starts to look up her number


	13. Chapter 13

**I thought I might need to post this before a large number of you come to Texas looking for me**

* * *

CHAPTER 13

Paula has finalized the plans. The book signing is scheduled. The cocktail party is set up. The newspaper back in New York is ready.

Everyone is here.

The local media is ready for a scoop. They have been told that it has something to do with Castle's status.

She is so pleased with what they are doing. This is going to be perfect.

She returns to Castle's hotel to pick him up and take him to his signing. She knocks on his door but he doesn't answer right away. She calls his cell phone. She can hear it ring inside the room. When he finally answers, he sounds like someone who has been drinking.

"Castle, open the door!" Paula yells into the phone

"OK! OK!"

She hears rustling in the room then the door opens. Castle looks like he just fought a battle with a wild animal.

"Richard! What is going on?"

"OH! I guess I fell asleep. I was having a nightmare"

Paula looks at Castle's face. "You look like hell! What kind of a nightmare did you have?"

"Never mind what kind of nightmare!" He looks at Paula, "I have to talk to…uh I have to get back to New York. I have to find Kate. I can't do this anymore."

"Well, right now you have a signing to go to! So get cleaned up and let's go"

"Paula, I need to talk to Kate. I need to talk to her NOW!"

"Rick, I know for a fact she is not at home. She left New York late yesterday. There was a lot of fallout from this newspaper thing"

"What do you mean, left? Where did she go?" Castle grabs his cell phone and dials Kate's number. The call goes straight to voice mail

"Paula, help me find Kate. Please!"

"Rick, what is going on?"

"I was really depressed after you left this morning. I was going to call a flight attendant I know and hook up with her. But I couldn't do it. I just can't cheat on Kate. No matter what happens. So instead I looked over the messages on my phone. The messages I didn't get until today."

He plays the voice mail message from Kate that she had sent right after she had dinner with Mark.

"Castle, I told Mark all about you. Told him how much I love you. How happy you make. He was glad I finally found someone. He made me realize I have not said it directly to you. So get home soon so I can say to your face I love you. Oh! And Just so you know you don't have anything to worry about with Mark. He's gay"

Paula laughs out loud. "Well that is just great. If I had time I might try to help find her, but get ready. Let's go"

Castle barely combs his hair, puts on a clean shirt and they head out to the signing. As soon as they get to the hotel, they rush into the room set up for the signing. The crowd is larger today than last night. The news reports have evidently raised interest in the books. The line is again a mixed bag of men and women.

Richard Castle sits down at the table and begins what he knows will be the usual list of "what is your name?" "Oh I'm your greatest fan", and "Thanks for coming out" Over and over and over again.

About an hour into the signing, he is not even looking up anymore. His speech is getting more and more forced. He wants nothing more than for this to end. Soon!

"Hi what is your name?" The answer and the voice gives him a jolt

"Kate. You can make it out to Kate"

Richard Castle almost jumps over the table to grab her. As he is holding on to Beckett for dear life he sees that standing behind her are the rest of the crew. Lanie, Esposito, Ryan and Jenny, and even captain Gates. His mother and daughter are standing next to them.

Castle looks around to the crowd. OK! We are not in New York so you can't be arresting me for a crime. What are you all doing here?

Paula says, "Well Richard after the problems you had these last few days, we all thought you might like some friendly company. Plus Kate has something she wanted to say to you face to face and not over the phone"

Castle looks into Kate's eyes. He sees there everything in her eyes he could possibly want to see or hear from her, but she says it anyway

"Richard Castle. I LOVE YOU!"

With his eyes glazing over "Katherine Beckett I LOVE YOU TOO!"

Then with her most sensual look on her face she leans up close to his ear and whispers to him.

"When ever you are ready. You are my one and done"

* * *

Paula has arranged a cocktail party for the evening with the usual press in attendance. This time however it is a little different. All of Richard Castle's family and closest friends are there.

The reporters stand in a group surrounding Castle. Paula has promised the media a scoop this evening.

_The usual questions prevail just like before. "Where do you get your inspiration for your stories? Is detective Beckett still involved in helping you get your facts correct about crime scenes? Is she traveling with you today?_

_"Well, the real word provides me with plenty of inspiration in man's inhumanity with man. I really don't have to look further than just down the street"_

_"Yes detective Beckett is still very much involved in my research"_

The final question he answers "Even though she has a very important job to do keeping New York safe from the criminal element she is here next to me right now! But after tonight, there will be a change in hers and my status. I hope"

He reaches over and pulls Kate to his side, gets down on one knee and in front of all the media

"Kate Beckett will you marry me?"


	14. Chapter 14

EPILOG

Sitting at the breakfast counter in his loft, Richard Castle and Kate Beckett are relaxing over a cup of their morning coffee.

Kate is reading the engagement announcement in the Ledger. The announcement that was actually written before the proposal even happened. If Rick only knew how many woman conspired against him. Or did they conspire for "Them". Kate repeatedly looks at her left hand to make sure it was not a dream. Yes there is a ring there. Her ring. Their ring. They are official. Everyone knows. No more secrets. No more hiding. No more pretending to be single.

Richard had finally asked her about Mark and what happened between her and him. They know that this is the only way that they are going to prevent the fear and terror that had prevailed over that poorly executed trip from happening again was to communicate openly. Ask, don't assume. She told Castle that Mark was in fact her first. He and her had tried to be a couple but it never was what he felt it should have been. Mark finally confessed to her that it was not what he wanted and they realized what they had was a great friendship, but nothing more. They would try to stay great friends, but he needed something different personally.

So they spent most of the time getting into trouble. Since Kate was his constant companion, everyone thought they were sleeping together. Then one day his father found out and became furious with Mark. They got into a fight. Mark actually assaulted his father. He was given the choice of military service or jail. Since don't ask, don't tell was the rule of the day, all went well during his service and he actually completed his obligation as a model sailor.

Now Castle understands why Kate felt comfortable in Mark's company without thinking it could cause the fallout that occurred.

But, unfortunately on the front page of the metro section was a 3 column inch story about the arrest of a suspect in the case of a murdered dentist from Bed-Stuy who was trying to purchase a building and renovate it for a dental practice. The story mentioned a junior partner in a law firm was suspected in the killing. The story said that he did not want the building where he grew up being renovated into a medical office. No names were mentioned in the article


	15. A message to my readers

**I just wanted every thank everyone who commented. Especially the ones who understand angst. I like to finish chapters with an open end that might or might not be good for our couple. This is designed to make you come back. **

**So to the ones who did not like the way I ended chapter 12 and said they would stop reading I assume that when they watched Always (4x23) they must have tuned out when Castle told Beckett that "This is over ! I'm done!" and walked out.  
**

**If they did they missed the best part.**

**thanks ya'll**

**( it's a Texas thing)**

**I will see you in my next story.  
**

**Yes! my brain is exploding and I am trying to write it down  
**


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